Philadelphia 76ers hoping to keep winning feeling alive

PHILADELPHIA — An emotion that’s been missing from Sixers’ practices lately cropped up Sunday. Their playful nature was readily apparent, from elbow jabs dispensed by Evan Turner to the hopping around from Nick Young after he drilled a corner 3-pointer.

What’s the word for that?

“We’re happy,” Turner said.

Yep, that’s the one. And the root of that happiness?

“We won, right?” he retorted.

That the Sixers did — for only the third time this month, and for the fifth time in 19 games. Winning breeds happiness among ballplayers, so it must feel like a distant memory that the Sixers actually opened their season with 10 wins in 16 games, and at one point led the Atlantic Division.

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Plenty has happened since then. Andrew Bynum’s timetable changed, then was eradicated. Jason Richardson went down, twice. Jrue Holiday missed four games, then reignited his all-star candidacy. Young sat out due to injury and defensive indifference.

Understandably, the Sixers (17-23) had plenty of reasons to enjoy Friday’s overtime win over Toronto, and to allow the elation from that 19-point comeback to spill over into the weekend and into Sunday’s practice at PCOM.

So is it too much of a stretch to think one win can roll into two — or possibly more? The Sixers, who host San Antonio (32-11) tonight, haven’t won consecutive games since Nov. 30, when they won their last in a three-game streak.

“We haven’t been able to put them back-to-back,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said. “The guys know they can do it. We’ve shown we can do it. We’ve beaten some very good teams. We’ve just got to do it every night. I mean, (today) is the midpoint of the season, right? Forty-one games? The first half has flown by and if we’re going to be a playoff team, at some point in time, we’ve got to string some wins together.”

Winning can be contagious. For the Sixers, it’s been anything but. In the game following each of their last three wins — Friday’s withstanding — they’ve suffered through a letdown game. A three-point loss at Brooklyn, to kick start an eight-game roadtrip. A defeat at Phoenix at the backend of a back-to-back scenario. An ugly setback at home against Western Conference bottomfeeder New Orleans.

And against Toronto, it took an eye-popping deficit on the scoreboard to trigger physicality from the Sixers. Turner wondered where they’d sit in the standings if his team could play that way from the beginning of games.

“We played relentless. We started hitting people. We were down,” he said. “We didn’t have anything to lose, we started hitting shots and we made (Toronto) uncomfortable.”

Even against the Spurs, who have won 13 of 17, the Sixers have that feeling. You know, that unmistakable, undeniable feeling that only comes from winning.

“When guys are in a good spot like, it creates energy,” Collins said with a smile — naturally.

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Jason Richardson rested his left knee and did not practice Sunday. The team said Richardson did not have it drained.

That made two straight practices during which Richardson has served as a spectator. The 11-year vet sat out Thursday’s session and had 20 CCs of fluid pulled from the joint, before playing 28 minutes Friday. It’s believed he’s a game-time decision for tonight’s game.

Andrew Bynum had ice bags taped to both knees. That means it’s safe to assume he at least took a few shots, even though his workout wasn’t done in the public eye.